2nd gen Camaro suspension advice

[csouth]

I have a friend that just bought a 73 Z28. He wants to improve the stance and change the wheels. I'm an A body guy and I know the F Body's are different animals from what I've read. I thought I would come here to get some feedback from other F Body owners. He probably won't autocross or track the car buy wants a PT stance. I had suggested maybe some tubular control arms, front coilovers and 2" dropped leafs, how does this sound? Please no suggestions of a subframe or full catalog from XYZ because this is not hardcore. Also any wheel fitment size suggestions would be appreciated. He's looking at 18's front and rear. From what I've seen most unmodified 2nd gens use 18x8 and 18x9.5 unsure of BS though? Car will not be tubbed. He's trying for something close to this pictured below.

THanks

144069

[andrewb70]

Chris,

Have you looked at Ridetech? I was just at LSFest and got a ride in the 48 Hour Camaro (stock subframe) with Mary Pozzi driving. I thought my guts were going to spill out from every orifice...It made my GTO feel like a conestoga wagon...

Andrew

[ULTM8Z]

What mods were done to that car?

[csouth]

What mods were done to that car?

Meyer Racing subframe and Ride Tech 4 link.

[csouth]

Chris,

Have you looked at Ridetech? I was just at LSFest and got a ride in the 48 Hour Camaro (stock subframe) with Mary Pozzi driving. I thought my guts were going to spill out from every orifice...It made my GTO feel like a conestoga wagon...

Andrew

LOL... That had to be fun.
I haven't looked at any of that stuff yet. He's coming to me for advice, so I'm in the research stage for his car. The things we do for friends..lol

[70Uglybird]

The advice of give him is to go all in. I thought I wanted the set up you describe bought it installed it and I just bought the speed tech coilovers, spindles, etc for front and doing a torque arm rear...

[csouth]

The advice of give him is to go all in. I thought I wanted the set up you describe bought it installed it and I just bought the speed tech coilovers, spindles, etc for front and doing a torque arm rear...

He's more into looks. I don't see him going all in. I was at least trying to get him to do a Ridetech 4 link, but he declined. If it were me, it would be a no brainer since he got such a good deal on the car.

[Skip Fix]

Good springs, shocks, sway bars, steering can make even a stock frame handle pretty darned good. Tubular arms to get more caster and camber will help. Sticky tires can help more than many other mods.

[OLDFLM]

Hotchkis TVS for what he wants and cut the front springs. Done.

[F-Body International]

I've been all over the place with suspension and my 2nd gen.

Global West has the most interesting leaf spring bearing setup I've seen on the market. It's the Cat-5 model springs. Spherical joints at both spring eyes and del-a-lum greasable bushings in the body side of the rear shackle. It'd be cool if they offered that setup in a composite leaf.

PTFB is another budget option.

[BonzoHansen]

I'd look at customworks, and i'd look at the new ridetech street grip system. A lot of bang for the buck in those two places for complete setups w/o getting in too deep$$

[Josh@Ridetech]

If he's shooting for ride quality, stance, and budget, the Streetgrip package we designed would hit all of those goals perfectly. It comes with dual rate coil springs, composite leaf springs, tall ball joints, rebound adjustable monotube shocks (lifetime warranty), delrin control arm/leaf spring bushings, and the front sway bar.

http://www.ridetech.com/products/suspension-packages/1970-1981-camaro-streetgrip-system/

[csouth]

If he's shooting for ride quality, stance, and budget, the Streetgrip package we designed would hit all of those goals perfectly. It comes with dual rate coil springs, composite leaf springs, tall ball joints, rebound adjustable monotube shocks (lifetime warranty), delrin control arm/leaf spring bushings, and the front sway bar.

http://www.ridetech.com/products/suspension-packages/1970-1981-camaro-streetgrip-system/

Josh,

Ridetech has moved to the top of his list recently. We talked and I told him about your participation on the forum and my own experiences when calling your tech line. Looking at the rears, he doesn't have room for a dropped leaf with his current exhaust routing.
I think we will go with the Strong Arms up front with the single adjustable coilovers and the single adjustable shocks in the rear.

Thoughts?

[gray86hach]

I am very happy with the DSE speed 1 kit front and rear. Drives really nice down the highway but also good on the autocross. 18x8 5bs 18x10 5.75 bs

Tim

[Josh@Ridetech]

Josh,

Ridetech has moved to the top of his list recently. We talked and I told him about your participation on the forum and my own experiences when calling your tech line. Looking at the rears, he doesn't have room for a dropped leaf with his current exhaust routing.
I think we will go with the Strong Arms up front with the single adjustable coilovers and the single adjustable shocks in the rear.

Thoughts?

You could definitely go that route on the front. The valving of the HQ coilovers and the HQ smooth bodies with work one another, no problems there. Other than the shocks, what do you have in mind for the rear?

[69496]

I probably would of done the ride tech street grip if it was out when I did my car. That being said I have hotchkis 2" drop rear leafs and front springs. Bilstein shocks, old school huge solid sway bars and the adjustable upper control arms with tall ball joints. Forgot who makes the arms at the moment but I will remember. Also added a good steering box and kore3 Corvette brake setup. I'm happy with my setup considering I am not a hardcore autocross guy, just a fun hotrod for me. The ride isn't too harsh but obviously not like a new car either. For me it's very controllable and predictable. It's also a big block car

[csouth]

You could definitely go that route on the front. The valving of the HQ coilovers and the HQ smooth bodies with work one another, no problems there. Other than the shocks, what do you have in mind for the rear?

Josh,

The more he looks at other second gen's, he finds that the ones he really likes have a 4 link in the rear. If it were my car I would do the 4link.
My advice to him, is to do the front now over the winter and not buy the rear shocks. Once he makes a firm decision on the rear, but the smooth bodies or 4 link. I'm guessing he could also buy the coilover shocks without the springs or adjusters this way if he decides to do a 4 link he would already have the correct shocks only needing the springs, etc.

Thoughts?

[Josh@Ridetech]

Josh,

The more he looks at other second gen's, he finds that the ones he really likes have a 4 link in the rear. If it were my car I would do the 4link.
My advice to him, is to do the front now over the winter and not buy the rear shocks. Once he makes a firm decision on the rear, but the smooth bodies or 4 link. I'm guessing he could also buy the coilover shocks without the springs or adjusters this way if he decides to do a 4 link he would already have the correct shocks only needing the springs, etc.

Thoughts?

The four link is my personal favorite because it offers more to you. It has more geometry corrections, better movement than a leaf, and allows you to adjust the driving height. If he bought the rear coilover shocks alone, the chances are that they wouldn't be the correct length for his current setup, and wouldn't be able to use them until the four link goes on the car.

[csouth]

Thanks for the feedback. I will suggest he wait on the rear until he has made a firm decision on 4 link or not.

[mert.celet]

I have the ridetech 4 link +QA1 coilovers on my ls swapped 74 firebird. With 305/30/19 Pzeros all around, car sticks ridiculous.
I have another 4th gen with all the umi suspension goodies+watts link but i can never get it to stick like the firebird.
If I would do my car all over, the thing i would never change would be the ridetech 4 link. You will never be upset.

[MCB Matt]

I would suggest the Ridetech StreetGRIP kit as well. That is the primary kit we sell to those who don't want new arms, don't want to 4 link etc.

I can help you out with pretty much any setup he decides to do. Shoot me a PM and we can discuss some options and pricing. We carry 300 brands of products for the car, we can help with any aspect of the build.

MCB

[csouth]

I would suggest the Ridetech StreetGRIP kit as well. That is the primary kit we sell to those who don't want new arms, don't want to 4 link etc.

I can help you out with pretty much any setup he decides to do. Shoot me a PM and we can discuss some options and pricing. We carry 300 brands of products for the car, we can help with any aspect of the build.

MCB

Thanks. He's purchased some stuff from you guys before with my recommendation, so I'm sure we'll follow up when he's ready to pull the trigger.

[MCB Matt]

Thanks. He's purchased some stuff from you guys before with my recommendation, so I'm sure we'll follow up when he's ready to pull the trigger.

Ok, sounds good. We appreciate the business.

Thanks,
Matt